This invention relates to traps in plumbing drainage systems. More particularly, it relates to traps which are adapted for cleaning without their removal from the plumbing lines.
Traps have been used for many years on pipes used to drain sinks, baths, and other plumbing facilities. Typically, a trap includes a U-shaped section designed to retain water in its arcuate base to prevent noxious odors and gases, and the like, from backing up from downstream facilities (such as sewer lines) into the sinks or other plumbing facilities. While such traps have been highly effective for that purpose, they suffer from one major disadvantage, namely, a tendency to collect solid sediment in the bottom of the U-shaped section. When excessive sediment is collected, the drain line clogs, and drainage fluids may be partially or totally prevented from draining out of the plumbing facilities. A plumber's services thus are often required under urgent circumstances and correction often requires the complete removal of the trap. However, when the trap is removed, the water standing in the sink or other facility above it may immediately commence to drain, and the plumber is faced with the task of handling the trap and simultaneously controlling the drainage. The plumber must also drain the liquids remaining in the U-shaped section, then clean out the solid sediment, and re-connect the trap back to the plumbing system. Because of its shape, visual inspection of the interior of the U-shaped section is not practical and only by re-installing it and testing it can the plumber be assured that the fixture has been adequately cleaned.
Many attempts have been made over the years to design a trap which could be cleaned without removing it from the plumbing lines. However, all such attempts at improving the trap design have been accompanied by problems.
Many prior art devices require a trial and error cleaning operation, for example, by inserting a snake or other type of cleaning probe into the trap and attempting to entangle the blockage materials about the snake so that they can be withdrawn. This can be a tedious process and may not satisfactorily clean the traps in any event. In many prior art cleaning techniques, it is impossible to visually inspect the interior of the trap to determine whether it has been adequately cleaned. Some devices in the prior art depend upon a cleaning technique which drives clogging materials further down into the drain line rather than withdrawing it from the trap. Not only may such techniques simply aggravate the problem, but they also do not permit the recovery of valuables or other materials which inadvertently fall into sinks and pass into drainage systems.
Some prior art devices designed for the cleaning of traps without removing them are extremely complicated and expensive to install. For example, it has been suggested to devise a mechanism for injecting hot water at a high pressure into the trap to force the contents downstream. Others insert devices into the bottom of the trap to catch sediment flowing downstream. However, such devices are often quick to clog and difficult to clean. Some have a non-uniform filtering capability which may permit some solid particles to pass through while stopping other identically sized particles. Further, one cannot be sure that in removing their filters all of the solid material in the trap has been withdrawn.
Because of these and other problems, the vast majority of traps now being used continue to be of the type which requires complete removal from the plumbing lines for cleaning.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a trap and cleaning system which can be used to greatly alleviate or even eliminate these and other problems in the prior art.